Festival Mall’s Gold Class Cinemas Review

Festival Mall has always been my favorite mall since I was a little kid and even now it is my ‘go-to’ place because I literally go to Festi everyday (mostly because of transportation). But their Cinema is one of the very few things I don’t like about the mall. Over the recent years they have been slowly improving and expanding it, and now they’ve introduced the all new Gold Class Cinemas.

Now, I originally wanted to watch BuyBust but I really wanted to check out this new cinema and I figured that I’ll probably still be able to catch BuyBust on cinemas specially with all the attention it’s getting. So, I ended up watching Mission: Impossible – Fallout and it was pretty intense. But this review is not about the movie so let’s get started:

Price

Php 450.00 for regular seats and Php 550.00 for the premium seats, both comes with a ‘snack bundle’. I don’t really remember the choices for the free snacks but I recommend getting only the popcorn, since it comes with a free one-time refill. And as far as I remember, the choices are pretty basic, we got a Cheese Quesadilla with a borderline-rotten salsa dip and a Bacon-wrapped Hotdog sandwich, the taste is just average. The good thing is it comes with a large soda, which usually costs around Php 60.00 – 80.00.

Picture and Sound Quality

Both are really great for me. I’m no expert but I’m pretty sure I would know if they are lacking in quality. These new cinemas are also equipped with Dolby Atmos and they’ll let you know by playing around six promotional videos that showcases its capability.

Seats

This is where it goes downhill. I immediately noticed that the first few rows are located in a lower platform and the premium seats and other regular seats in the middle are in a higher platform. Obviously, right? But this isn’t the case with other cinemas, like in Commercenter where being seated in the first few rows doesn’t really feel like you’ve got the worst seat in the house and the screen is still eye level and can be viewed comfortably.

The seats are actually very comfortable and spacious, but the ‘lazyboy’ recliner seat’s foot rest can only be raised up to certain level (like the one pictured in the Facebook post and in their posters) and it’s quite an awkward angle. It’s not really that bad though you could still relax, just not with a straight legs. The recliner is controlled through the buttons at the side where there is also a USB slot that you can use for charging.

Etc.

Other things I should mention is that it was super cold inside the cinema so make sure to bring a jacket or sweater.

I didn’t notice if there are seat indicators, we were guided to our seats when we first entered but when I had to pee during the movie, I didn’t see any row indicators on my way back to our seats.

‘Shittable pare’

The restrooms are really nice, but there are no audio so you’ll probably miss some dialogues when you have to go in to the restroom.

Ain’t that bad but there are better cinemas out there

Don’t get me wrong, the new Gold Class Cinemas really provided us a decent cinema experience. But what I don’t get is why they would make a premium cinema where people will pay a more expensive rate but there are still seats that would give you a shitty experience.

The sadbar

And that’s not even the worst part, they currently have this “No Outside Food” policy implemented which is actually okay but only IF they have a decent snackbar. The snackbar only have overpriced chips and microwaved food at the moment so that would be my biggest gripe.

Sure, there are better seats in the cinema but everyone who paid the premium rate should all have the best experience regardless of where they are seated. And for me that is what a Gold Class Cinema should be.